A break from the Beech to the Beach!

A retreat from Beeching by the beaches of South Devon: a balloon flight, a walk along the coast and a swim in the sea!

Of course we couldn't resist taking a balloon with us!

So it happened that on Wednesday morning we launched from the friendly Glider site at North Hill.

Weather conditions initially were slightly marginal with low cloud and quite some wind, but by the time we had rigged the voyager the skies were clear and we took off just after 7.30am.

                                                                          The flight took us initially over very pretty rolling countryside before we managed a tricky intermediate landing and changed over crew and pilot.

I now took control and flew with friend Kevin MacDonald on board who was by coincidence staying with relatives in a near-by village.



Our flight track allowed us to fly right along the lively and picturesque high street of Honiton before we landed in a nicely cut grass field to the south-east of the market town.

the market town of Honiton

Packing up followed by delicious breakfast and a freezing cold dip in the sea.


Our batteries recharged we headed back to Bristol to carry on with planning and organising what next for 'onthebeech'.